Ignoring Your ‘Otaku’ is Ignoring Yourself

Richard Moore
Aug 28, 2017 · 2 min read

I was recently having lunch at a client’s office and overheard a conversation about football.

The two people didn’t just have a point of view that they were arguing; they had stats, examples, quotes, research. You name it.

They were experts.
Kings of their niche.
Masters of this particular recess of the sporting world.

It was a spectacular display of “otaku”.

Your ‘otaku’ is your house — that place you reside in when you’re in obsessed over something

I first came across the word “otaku” reading Seth Godin’s “Purple Cow”. The Japanese word is defined as “a young person who is obsessed with…particular aspects of popular culture to the detriment of their social skills.” It literally means “your house”. As in, the place your mind inhabits the most when it is rooted in interest in something.

I’m not suggesting that social skills were lacking with these two as they sparred. But I did find it really interesting that they had such a rich knowledge of their sports and yet they weren’t leveraging it in most of their waking hours. So I observed them from afar, across the afternoon.

What was tragic was that they then spent the next few hours clearly bored rigid with their jobs. Both had been there well over a year but hadn’t applied the same level of interest that they displayed with their hobbies only earlier that day.

Go explore your otaku. How could you share it? That’s you at your very best because it’s a topic or space that resonates most purely with you. Stifling it means stifling you.


Found this post useful? Kindly tap the ❤ button below! :)

About The Author

Richard Moore is the Founder of EightStepStartup . You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

)
Richard Moore

Written by

Startup Mentor | Sales consultant | Investor in exciting new companies🔥 15+ years in LOVE with selling & coaching! Weekly Live Q&A on Facebook (Mon @1pm GMT)

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade